FIFA World Cup 2010

[Galic Ho]

To be fair to Verbeek, which players that really could have made the difference didn't he include? All these coaches are overpaid, but some of them get to deal with exceptionally weak players.

Point taken, you can only do so much. I did not expect us to win the WC or make the Semis. But we have the players to reach the round of 16 if we play them and don't play conservatively. Pim left the only Australian to have played in the champions league at home, a player who has scored multiple times at European level, Scott McDonald. He has not blooded younger players frequently enough. Carle has been left out of the midfield. He runs at defenses and can create opportunites. Heck, the guy regarded as our worst player, Holman, was the second best aussie on the field against Germany. We played the entire qualifying process with one striker...no wonder McDonald missed the final cut. He works well when paired up with a strike partner. We have the guys to make a fight...we didn't even do that. The coach wanted to qualify, get paid and then hope someone stuffed up. We are relying totally on luck to score. There are no creative midfield options, or structure. Cahill was played out of position. He is no striker. The Verbeek strategy for Australia in solely reliant on luck. Luck only gets you so far. Structure and attitude are the basis for all teams to do well. The Socceroos don't have that with this coach.

On to the players. Our players whine and act the thug when outplayed. Tim Cahill was warned before the Tournament that he risked major punishment if he didn't curb his reckless challenges. Serves him right he was handed a red, he's been incorporating such a foolish manner into his gameplay for the past two seasons. Lucas Neill, tried to bluff West Ham for a pay rise last year when his contract ended and missed the first two months of the season...our national captain without a club. Galatasaray bought him and guess what? Lucas didn't get a pay rise at all. He did however not receive a single payment for the two months he missed. What a moron. Our annointed 'greatest player' Harry Kewell has been the walking wounded since the last world cup. I am pretty sure he hasn't played for Galatasaray in 6 months. Now Verbeek has come out and said he has to play off the bat against Ghana and perform or we will go home...who wants or needs that pressure? Our resources aren't endless, they are limited, but Verbeek hasn't IMO marshalled them in even a reasonable and acceptable manner. I've thought he was a fool well before Germany thrashed us. Many others have as well. Is it Verbeeks fault? Not entirely...it is the gooses who appointed him and do not hold him accountable. Frank Lowy and Ben Buckley. They both need to step aside as well.

I'd fire the lot and get a coach who can implement a guideline not just for the national team, but our local and league coaches to follow. A plan to encourages skill based football and not brute force and luck based play. Implement it with the kids, get them proper training (parents pay huge fees and get nothing back from FFA) facilities and techniques and enforce a stricter standard in the national team. If we cannot progress far, the least we should be doing is getting younger men into the squad for the experience. We haven't even done that. If we lose against Ghana, Australia leave the world cup having achieved almost nothing other than turning up in South Africa. That is disgraceful given our sporting pedigree. Sport is like a religion here. That will not be accepted. Thankfully some of the analysts and media are not waiting to sink the boot in. It needs to be sunk in all the way.

 

[craig1985]

On another forum I visit and they said New Zealand back 4 > Australia's back 4.

 

[workingclasshero]

galic ho, you take so many words to explain simple things. And when talking about non factual things (like your opinion on the manager), you make it sound like you've got all the right answers written down. Are you trying to impress some bird?

Asia asked for a rule change [that their fifth team now play the oceania winner]. They thought allowing Australia in Asia would mean more traditional Asian countries made the final 32.

ok so australia didn't, at the time of changing to asia, know that they would've played the fifth team in asia if they'd stay put (well they probably wouldn't have i guess).

i assume asia just wanted a spot back (seeing as the one australia have don't really represent them) and fifa thought that was fair enough. Then it turns out they are that poor at football they don't really deserve having four teams in the world cup anyway. Three seems about right

in the last world cup asia had four (korea rep, iran, saudi arabia and japan).

do i also remember correctly when i think that in 2002 ireland (rep) played iran in a play off. i guess these things change around all the time, as we know australia have in the past played both south american and european teams.

and i'm not really bothered by any of it

 

[Galic Ho]

On another forum I visit and they said New Zealand back 4 > Australia's back 4.

It wouldn't be hard. So far this world cup Australia have been the weakest time in the first round of pool matches. We've still yet to see Group H but I doubt anyone will be as woeful as we were. I've had my backup team to cheer for now for over 4 years. Go Spain!

 

[Galic Ho]

galic ho, you take so many words to explain simple things. And when talking about non factual things (like your opinion on the manager), you make it sound like you've got all the right answers written down. Are you trying to impress some bird?

Sorry, it just happens. I don't ahve all the answers written down, but I do have common sense. The SBS guys have been singing the same song as I have for two plus years now. They aren't shocked and neither am I. Put it this way, Verbeek used a suspect system to qualify (one experts frowned upon because it lacked substance) and then Verbeek threw his cautious approach to the wind and came up with a new formation and player roster for Germany. Verbeek contradicted his own coaching style. Read into that as you will.

As for trying to impress a bird. There are no women round these forums, albeit a few...sorry to Susan and the few others who frequent the forums. This is mostly a male populated forum. I'm not trying to impress anyone, least of all a female. I don't know anyone on this forum in person so I fail to see any reason for me to impress someone as it won't get me anywhere.

ok so australia didn't, at the time of changing to asia, know that they would've played the fifth team in asia if they'd stay put (well they probably wouldn't have i guess).

The Asian confederation asked for the qualifying to be looked at after Australia had joined. FIFA apparently want a fair representation of all nations in the world. There are more in Asia than South America. Hence they change who Oceania's champion played to try and earn a WC birth. Irony is, Asia thought they had a deadset 5th team in the WC finals, considering Australia was no longer in Oceania, but the 5th team couldn't even beat a paltry NZ. The AFC, has *****ed to FIFA about our A-League, simply because it is a domestic league, but contains a NZ team, the Wellington Pheonix. Basically the NZ team is the Wellington Phoenix. Our A-League provided their national team with a groundind to improve enough to win the Oceania title and simultaneously beat the 5th ranked Asian team. So Australia, the FFA, is not too popular with the old Asian power brokers because our league structuring allowed our old neighbours the tools to beat our new zoning federation nations.

i assume asia just wanted a spot back (seeing as the one australia have don't really represent them) and fifa thought that was fair enough. Then it turns out they are that poor at football they don't really deserve having four teams in the world cup anyway. three seems about right

That about sums it up. Korea are actually very good. Both Korean teams. The Asian womens teams, particularly ours, are very strong as well. Japan's men fluctuate, as do the Aussies. Iran use to be good and strangely enough the Asian Cup of 2007 was won by Iraq, who couldn't train in the lead up properly because of the racial Islamic tensions between Sunni's and ****e's. I'll be fair to Pim...his assistant, the biased Graham Arnold, is his lieutenant and adviser. Arnold oversaw our massacre at the Asian Championships in 2007. We lost to Iraq badly. Arnold is part of the boys club and deliberately turfed worthy players from the squad. He gave Pim advice on who to pick when Advocaat reniged on his arrangement to coach the Socceroos after Zenit St. Petersburg won the UEFA Cup. Advocaat was supposed to leave. The club owner offered him $5,000,000 to stay. Trumps 2 million doesn't it.

Short story, Asia probably don't deserve as many places as they have, but population statistics suggest they get the places. Would I take Russia over Australia at the WC? Hell yeah...they've got Arshavin. He'd have wrecked some teams if Russia hadn't choked against Slovenia.

 

[workingclasshero]

Short story, Asia probably don't deserve as many places as they have, but population statistics suggest they get the places

to be fair i'm all for asia getting three, four or even five spots at the world cup as if they're ever going to improve, they need to compete against the best.

the thought of having bahrain in the world cup doesn't appeal any less to me than slovenia, honduras or slovakia do. Would've been a laugh really, having countries in it which you don't even know the capital of british virgin islands ftw

ps. as for impressing birds i think you need to check out redheaddane, she seems to be up for showing us her rat (i may be reading too much into her posts but see babes on bikes thread)

 

[Galic Ho]

to be fair i'm all for asia getting three, four or even five spots at the world cup as if they're ever going to improve, they need to compete against the best.

the thought of having bahrain in the world cup doesn't appeal any less to me than slovenia, honduras or slovakia do. Would've been a laugh really, having countries in it which you don't even know the capital of british virgin islands ftw

ps. as for impressing birds i think you need to check out redheaddane, she seems to be up for showing us her rat (i may be reading too much into her posts but see babes on bikes thread)

South Korea went downhill when Verbeek took over from Hiddink. Australia have done the same. South Korea's current crop are the best their nation has ever produced, yet their performances dropped. I am pleased with how they played against Greece. Hopefully at least one Asian team makes it past the group stages. Sadly for Africa and Asia, arguably the better chances of progressing (Ivory Coast and KDR) from their zones were stuck in the pool of death...Group G. Real shame. Oh, well, happens every world cup. One group is super hard.

I haven't dropped by the Babes on Bikes thread in a while. I'll go do that now.

 

[craig1985]

to be fair i'm all for asia getting three, four or even five spots at the world cup as if they're ever going to improve, they need to compete against the best.

the thought of having bahrain in the world cup doesn't appeal any less to me than slovenia, honduras or slovakia do. Would've been a laugh really, having countries in it which you don't even know the capital of british virgin islands ftw

ps. as for impressing birds i think you need to check out redheaddane, she seems to be up for showing us her rat (i may be reading too much into her posts but see babes on bikes thread)

Stalking's a crime

 

[The Hitch]

in the first half chille were really good. Brazil eat your heart out.

 

[Moondance]

in the first half chille were really good. Brazil eat your heart out.

Yes... But they really should have two or three given how much posession and chances they have had.

Although that one stop by the goalkeeper was incredible. Probably one of the top-10 saves I've ever seen.

 

[The Hitch]

Yes... But they really should have two or three given how much posession and chances they have had.

Although that one stop by the goalkeeper was incredible. Probably one of the top-10 saves I've ever seen.

I thought so too. But the commentator here said it was all the fault of the striker and downplayed the save.
Also the ref didnt give chille some edge of box free kicks and penalties they should have had. Would be unlucky if they lose to spain on goal difference (plausible if they draw against them in last group game with both qualified) and have to face brazil. THis happened before. in 98 Chille looked good but faced brazil in knockout round and lost 4-1.

 

[The Hitch]

The favourites Spain about to play.

On a sad note Spanish captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillias has managed to disgrace himself spectacularly. It started when a Catalunian politician suggested that the Spanish football team should not receive such high bonuses (Spanish footballers are in line to receive the highest bonuses of all countries competing), considering that Spain is in very deep economic trouble with over 20% unemployment and quite high poverty rates. Mr Cassilias took this suggestion that he should receive less money very personally and in a press conference went after the politician for getting involved, insisting that football be separated from politics. Despite getting so passionately involved in the discussion, Mr Casillias is seemingly unaware of the fact that unlike his club money, which comes largely from the shady corporations which back Real Madrid, world cup bonuses come from the Spanish federation, and are therefore, very much a political matter.

But not content to stop there, Mr Casilias then went further, and in response to suggestions that he is already considerably rich so doesnt need the wc bonus, claimed to have loved ones deeply affected by the recession. On this issue, we should perhaps be willing to give Mr Casillias the benefit of the doubt and say that he is most likely lying through his teeth. This is because when one considers that his daily salary alone (£20 000) is sufficient to lift any loved ones out of poverty, it would truly be deplorable, if Mr Casilias was telling the truth and admitting that despite his massive income, he has no desire to help anyone but himself.

Come to think of it why does the Spanish government spend so much money on education and healthcare, when it could all be going to a far nobler cause like giving Mr Cassilias’s an even bigger wc bonus

 

[issoisso]

This is how much Portugal's offence suck:

Today they played a practice match against the under 19s of a south african club.

0-0

The players, predictably, left even more depressed than they already had been

To be fair to Verbeek, which players that really could have made the difference didn't he include? All these coaches are overpaid, but some of them get to deal with exceptionally weak players.

To be fair to Verbeek, he also got his tactics horribly wrong in a miriad of different ways

1. If your team is going to press that high, your defenders have to be either very fast or extremely intelligent/positionally brilliant. Australia's defenders are neither. As tactics go, that's about as simple and axyomatic as a concept can be. Verbeek decided to ignore that. The result was that Podolski was laughing all day while running the offside line and getting easy runs.

2. Tons of space for the german wingers to cut in between fullback and central defender = more runs clean through. Verbeek again ignored this.

3. It is completely impossible to press that high while having one less man in central midfield. Another basic concept that Verbeek ignored. 3 Germans vs 2 Australians in central midfield = Özil had as much time as he wanted to do whatever the heck he felt like.

4. You don't use play a system whose main weakness is counterattacks when the opposition's offence is ideally suited to counterattack. You especially don't do it when it's a system that takes months of training and fine tuning and you randomly decide to start training it only a couple of days before the first game.

It took Verbeek over half the game to realize this and add an extra man in midfield, by which time they were trailing 2-0. Australia immediately got back into the game.....and Cahill promptly got sent off and they crumbled again.

 

[icefire]

The favourites Spain about to play.

On a sad note Spanish captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillias has managed to disgrace himself spectacularly. It started when a Catalunian politician suggested that the Spanish football team should not receive such high bonuses (Spanish footballers are in line to receive the highest bonuses of all countries competing), considering that Spain is in very deep economic trouble with over 20% unemployment and quite high poverty rates. Mr Cassilias took this suggestion that he should receive less money very personally and in a press conference went after the politician for getting involved, insisting that football be separated from politics. Despite getting so passionately involved in the discussion, Mr Casillias is seemingly unaware of the fact that unlike his club money, which comes largely from the shady corporations which back Real Madrid, world cup bonuses come from the Spanish federation, and are therefore, very much a political matter.

But not content to stop there, Mr Casilias then went further, and in response to suggestions that he is already considerably rich so doesnt need the wc bonus, claimed to have loved ones deeply affected by the recession. On this issue, we should perhaps be willing to give Mr Casillias the benefit of the doubt and say that he is most likely lying through his teeth. This is because when one considers that his daily salary alone (£20 000) is sufficient to lift any loved ones out of poverty, it would truly be deplorable, if Mr Casilias was telling the truth and admitting that despite his massive income, he has no desire to help anyone but himself.

Come to think of it why does the Spanish government spend so much money on education and healthcare, when it could all be going to a far nobler cause like giving Mr Cassilias’s an even bigger wc bonus

The Spanish Football Federation does not get any single euro from the government. All their income comes from private sponsors and a percentage of TV rights and ticket sales in national competitions. So the Spanish Football Association is not accountable to the government nor to any politician regarding budget management.

I feel no sympathy for the Football Federation, as this lack of accountability leads to all kinds of corruption, but they aren't doing it with taxpayers money. Which leads to my lack of sympathy for politicians that lie to citizens telling (among many other lies) that football players are being paid with taxpayers money.

 

[icefire]

BTW, if I were the Spanish coach Casillas would not be playing as long as his girlfriend is working at the pitch as a journalist

 

[The Hitch]

omg the bbc just said that Sepp Blatter should recieve the nobel peace prize. THis is mind boggling for so many reasons. Its an evil thing to say.

I want the guy who just said that fired.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

omg the bbc just said that Sepp Blatter should recieve the nobel peace prize. THis is mind boggling for so many reasons. Its an evil thing to say.

I want the guy who just said that fired.

agreed.

---

Spain are looking good. Passing the ball around nicely, but really haven't created a whole lot.
Iniesta is awesome.

--

agree with the 'pim has nothing to work with' notion. they really have little to choose from, in terms of talent. They made a mistake in development. After last world cup they should have introduced a bunch of youngsters and made them regulars in the squad, instead.. thus building for this wc and the next with a fresh approach... - it seems -- to me anyway, that they were hoping to build on the performance from last world cup with a quickly aging squad.

In a nutshell the team is slow, old and uncreative.
And I don't think pim is all that great, and struggles to get the best out of the group (not sure he knows how to motivate these guys properly..). His tactics were not great, but the loss certainly was not just his fault.

 

[The Hitch]

cant see switzerland holding out much longer

 

[Moondance]

Good call Hitch


Hop Schweiz indeed!

 

[icefire]

The Swiss score!

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

They should now quikly score the second!

Spain didn't look that scary so far...
tehy should bring in torres and take silva out for navas for example.

 

[theyoungest]

To be fair to Verbeek, he also got his tactics horribly wrong in a miriad of different ways

Blablabla

Chill out dude, I'm not exactly the guy's biggest fan, but Australia losing 4-0 wasn't all down to tactics.

Oh, and by the way, Forza Svizzera!

 

[hfer07]

Ohh Dear- Looks like we're going to have the first upset of the World cup!!! hahahahaha

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Switzerland having the first score is making this a very interesting match.
However, Spain should be winning this one 3-0.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Oh what a lovely move by Derdiyok.
He probably should have gone for the far post with a shot rather then turning inside.